Amb. Hails Private Sector
Ambassador Bodde chats with Pro. Chikaonda
Ambassador Bodde Engages Malawi’s Captains of Private Sector
United States Ambassador to Malawi Peter W. Bodde recently hosted a reception for captains of private sector at Mulika Club in Blantyre with an aim of enhancing interaction between the U.S. Mission in Malawi and the private sector. Speaking at the event, Ambassador Bodde said he was aware that high transportation cost was among the major factors hindering Malawi’s private sector from fully taking advantage of the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), a U.S. Government duty-free trade initiative for Sub-Saharan Africa countries including Malawi.
He said other African countries had taken full advantage of the initiative but Malawi was facing challenges because it is a landlocked country. He added that solutions to such challenges can best be found by the Malawian private sector, saying, “the business community holds the key of how to take better advantage of programs such as AGOA and this is why I have taken time to meet and listen to their concerns.”
Ambassador Bodde pledged continued U.S. assistance to Malawi, saying “the U.S. is a long time committed partner to the people of Malawi. We have been here for many years, we have provided hundreds of million of dollars in assistance ... we are here to stay.”
On Malawi’s food security initiative, the Ambassador said the United States was ready to support Malawi Government’s "Greenbelt Initiative," which seeks to support irrigation farming to break the country’s reliance on rain-fed agriculture and improve food security.
“We are willing to assist in line with what we are doing on food security including other agricultural initiatives because there is tremendous potential here ... Malawi is a fertile and productive country.” He disclosed that President Obama’s administration is in the process of putting together a worldwide food security initiative and that Malawi could be a serious partner in that. “We just have to see how our two countries can work together and how our plans can complement each other,” he said.
The Ambassador added that the United States has now become Malawi’s largest single bilateral donor contributing between US$140 Million to $150 million to various sectors such as health, education, agriculture and economic development.
The event attracted executives from prominent companies including Press Corporation Limited group, Nico Holdings Limited, FDH Financial Holdings Limited, First Merchant Bank, and others.